The Daily Kos Elections Morning Digest is compiled by David Nir, Jeff Singer, Stephen Wolf, Carolyn Fiddler, and Matt Booker, with additional contributions from David Jarman, Steve Singiser, Daniel Donner, James Lambert, David Beard, and Arjun Jaikumar.
Leading Off
● Chicago, IL Mayor: Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle picked up an endorsement from Democratic Rep. Danny Davis on Tuesday ahead of her April 2 runoff against former federal prosecutor and fellow Democrat Lori Lightfoot. In the first round of voting, though, Davis had backed businessman Willie Wilson who, in a twist, has since given his support to Lightfoot. A day earlier, Preckwinkle also won the endorsement of the Illinois Federation of Teachers; back in December, she received the backing of the powerful Chicago Teachers Union, which has been one of her main allies.
However, despite the new infusion of support, Preckwinkle's campaign is in rough shape. She's trailed by 28 to 30 points in all three polls released since the first round, and on Tuesday she acknowledged she's cut back on TV advertising. Just how bad are things? The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Preckwinkle has been outspent two-to-one on the airwaves and has now gone completely dark just two weeks ahead of Election Day. After her press conference with Davis, Preckwinkle would only say, "We're making strategic decisions to put us in the best place to win this campaign," which is code for, "We're in trouble."
Senate
● AL-Sen: Third-term Republican Rep. Gary Palmer, a member of the nihilistic House Freedom Caucus, had reportedly been considering a bid against Democratic Sen. Doug Jones and now says he's "praying about it." However, in the same recent radio interview, Palmer went on at length about the importance of Republicans trying to reclaim the House in 2020, saying that "any other issues personally should be secondary to that."
But it's not as though Palmer staying put would actually help the GOP win back the lower chamber: He's not a member of NRCC leadership, and the seat he represents, Alabama's 6th, is blood red. It may just be that Palmer's preserving an out for himself, however thin the excuse.
● CO-Sen: Former U.S. Attorney John Walsh, who'd reportedly been considering a bid against Republican Sen. Cory Gardner, has publicly spoken about his interest for the first time, saying he "hope[s] to make a decision … by the end of April."
Walsh, an appointee of Barack Obama, served as the top federal prosecutor for the state of Colorado from 2010 to 2016 until joining a private law firm, WilmerHale, last year (he departed the firm on Monday). The Colorado Sun describes Walsh as "well-connected in Colorado's political circles" and notes that the partner in charge of WilmerHale's Denver office is Ken Salazar, who was interior secretary under Obama and also served in the Senate himself.
Walsh would join a Democratic primary that already features two notable entrants, former state House Speaker Andrew Romanoff and former state Sen. Mike Johnston. A number of other prominent Democrats are also potential candidates.
● TN-Sen: For the first time, freshman GOP Rep. Mark Green has publicly said he's "thinking about" a bid to succeed retiring Sen. Lamar Alexander, though he didn't provide a timetable for a decision. Green's name had in fact come up as a potential primary challenger to Alexander before the senator announced he wouldn't seek a fourth term in December, and the radical anti-tax Club for Growth has been pushing him to run. No notable Republicans have entered the race yet.
● VA-Sen: Conservative radio host John Fredericks, citing unnamed "sources," claimed on Tuesday that the NRSC is trying to recruit ex-Rep. Scott Taylor to run against Democratic Sen. Mark Warner next year. Taylor, of course, was unseated by Democrat Elaine Luria in 2018, and a few weeks after his loss, he declined to rule out a rematch. It's eminently possible, though, that Senate recruiters would instead prefer he take on Warner, given how anemic the Virginia GOP's bench otherwise is.
But while Taylor might be better than most alternatives, he comes with a dark cloud hovering over him: A special prosecutor confirmed just last month that he's still investigating Taylor's campaign for its fraudulent efforts to help an independent candidate, Shaun Brown, get on the ballot last year by forging petition signatures. Incidentally, Brown was recently sentenced to three years in prison on unrelated fraud charges.
House
● IL-06: A conservative blog called the Illinois Review reports that former Lt. Gov. Evelyn Sanguinetti announced at a GOP event on Friday that she's "seriously thinking" that she'll run against freshman Democratic Rep. Sean Casten in the 6th Congressional District, and Rich Miller of the local tipsheet Capitol Fax offers confirmation, saying he "told subscribers about this a couple of weeks ago."
Sanguinetti, however, has only won one election on her own, for a position on the city council in the small city of Wheaton in 2011. Two years later, she was tapped by wealthy businessman Bruce Rauner to serve as his running-mate. The pair went on to narrowly win both the GOP primary and general election the following year, making Sanguinetti the first Latina to win statewide office in Illinois. But four years later, Rauner and Sanguinetti barely survived an underfunded primary challenge from the right, then got obliterated by a 55-39 margin amidst 2018's blue wave.
Somewhat surprisingly, Sanguinetti is the first candidate we've heard express interest in taking on Casten, whose district marched from 53-45 Romney to 50-43 Clinton but has always been traditionally Republican. What's more, despite the fact that Casten ousted GOP Rep. Peter Roskam by a 54-46 margin, the Rauner-Sanguinetti ticket carried the 6th District 50-45, according to analyst Miles Coleman.
Speaking of Roskam, Sanguinetti says she's spoken with his team and thinks it's "unlikely" the former congressman would attempt a comeback. However, we have yet to hear directly from Roskam or anyone associated with him.
● NC-03: Lenoir County Commissioner Eric Rouse is the first candidate to go up on TV in the special election for North Carolina's 3rd District, and he's doing so well ahead of the April 30 GOP primary. He's also using a now-classic violent trope that's common in Republican ads: He shoots a bunch of stuff associated with Democrats. Brandishing a pump-action shotgun, Rouse declares that "Trump needs allies to help shoot down the socialist radical agenda," then blasts away at clay targets labeled with phrases like "ANTI GUN," "GOVT HEALTHCARE," and "GREEN NEW DEAL."
There are 17 Republicans running in this race, and like just about every other GOP primary these days, it's going to be a contest to see who can prove themselves Trumpiest.
Mayoral
● Kansas City, MO Mayor: With just a couple of weeks to go before the April 2 nonpartisan primary, EMILY's List has given its endorsement in the race for Kansas City mayor to City Councilor Jolie Justus, who the other day also picked up the backing of outgoing Mayor Sly James. A new poll released over the weekend showed Justus leading the way with 15 percent, while a trio of her rivals were tied for the second slot in the June 18 general election with 10 apiece.
● Salt Lake City, UT Mayor: Just over a month after kicking off her bid for a second term, Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski abandoned her re-election campaign on Monday, citing what she called a "serious and complex family situation" involving her children. Prior to Biskupski's announcement, a large field had already gathered to challenge her in this year's officially nonpartisan race, and some new candidates are now already talking about entering.
